Thin glass substrates are generally more brittle than silicon (Si) substrates typically used in the manufacture of integrated microelectronic devices. Edges of the glass substrate can easily become chipped and/or damaged from handling during the manufacturing process. These chipped and/or damaged regions often become crack-initiation points that dramatically reduce the strength of the substrate. Consequently, thin glass substrates readily break or completely shatter, resulting in yield loss, process equipment contamination, and sometimes damage to the equipment. Known methods of forming crack-stop features have thus far focused on stopping in-plane cracks that occur between layers of film. However, these methods only prevent inter-layer cracks and do not address substrate breakage. In addition, such methods have been limited to two-dimensional structures.
A need therefore exists for methodology enabling prevention of through-substrate cracks from propagating and damaging a wafer and the resulting device.